


One Step at a Time

by KimmiBirbly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ALS, Also I'm not a doctor so I may get some things wrong, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Gay Keith (Voltron), Get ready this is gonna be a long one, I'll fix them later I promise, I'm Sorry, I'm bad at tags this is my first fic, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance has ALS, Langst, Lots of Angst, M/M, Protective Keith (Voltron), Slow Burn, i'll add lots of klance and gang fluff to help with the angst, klance, this will get pretty sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:08:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26971144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimmiBirbly/pseuds/KimmiBirbly
Summary: Lance is just your regular 21-year-old University student; late-nights spent finishing assignments, sharing a dorm room with his two best friends and always trying to best his number one rival Keith Kogane. Despite how hectic life as a student was .. he enjoyed it .. loved it really, it was his norm and something he found comfort in. That is until he started noticing odd cramps and numbness in his leg which got worse and worse .. and when he found out the cause his life had a sudden drastic change as Lance was faced with his possible mortality. Thankfully his friends were always there to help him through this difficult time .. and somehow even Keith ended up being roped up into their friend circle as he started caring about Lance more and more.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH OMG, I can't believe I actually posted this!  
> I've been going back and forth on whether I should post this or not for months now, I have the entire story fleshed out and a good few chapters already written .. I was just scared to post it because I was afraid people wouldn't like it! But I finally got over my fear and posted it! I'm really passionate about this story and truly love it and love writing it, so I hope you all enjoy it just as much. This is my first time ever publicising a written work of mine so I'm not sure how it will be received .. hopefully well!  
> Most of the University aspects are actually inspired by my personal experience at University (I'm studying biology for those interested).  
> Anywho I'll stop rambling now and hope you enjoy the beginning of what is to be a long story of love, pain and the importance that those around us have.

*BEEP BEEP* *BEEP BEEP*

  
Lance groans and reaches his hand out to the side of his pillow, blindly swatting his hand till he finds his phone. As soon as he feels it, he shuts off his alarm and takes off his headphones and sleeping mask. Its Monday morning and, now that his headphones are off, he can hear Pidge typing away at her laptop and Hunk snoring in their little dorm room. Its nothing much, just your standard 3-person dorm room at the Garrison University. They each have a small wardrobe, a bunk bed and with a desk underneath, making the room a tad crowded, but they still somehow managed to fit in a soft grey rug in the centre and two bean bags.

  
Lance finally peels himself off his bed and climbs down the small ladder by his bed. He mumbles a barely audible good morning to Pidge, to which she replies with a similar level of grogginess, as he grabs his morning skincare products. It's still 7 am and Lance is not a morning person, on the contrary, he thrives at night, so 8 am lectures are his nightmare. At least, this lecture is with his favourite lecturer of all time, Professor Coran. Pidge, his roommate and friend since high school, is a night owl like him, however, she doesn’t see the importance that a full 8 hours of sleep has on keeping your skin glowing and healthy and often pulls all-nighters, as is the case today. He knows she has no lectures today, so he leaves for the bathroom, knowing that she’ll probably have packed up and gone to bed by then.

  
Lance McClain is a 21-year-old student at the Garrison University and is currently studying a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology and Physics. He’s roommates with his two best friends; Hunk, 21-years-old, who is studying a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering, and Pidge, 19-years-old, who is studying a Bachelor of Science (Honours) Computational Physics and Mathematics. He loves them both to death and cannot imagine going through university without them by his side. They’re there for him through thick and thin and, although not as outwards about it as Lance is, they are fun-loving goofballs like him. His thoughts about his love for his friends, now family, are interrupted as he enters the bathroom and sees a familiar mullet at one of the sinks. His mood is immediately soured, and he makes it a point to stay at the sink farthest away from him, which isn’t that far considering the bathroom is rather crowded.

  
Lance lays down his skincare products and starts by brushing his teeth and he can hear Keith scoff from his sink. Keith Kogane is a 22-year-old student at the Garrison University studying a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Astrophysics. He shares a few classes with Lance, due to them both falling under the Physics department, at least partially, and there, Lance learned what an obnoxious person Keith is. They are both at the top of their classes and are constantly neck in neck, but Keith never seemed to care when he gets top of his class and treats it as if it’s nothing. He probably thinks he’s better than everyone around him! That is until Lance started becoming a competition for him, and Keith seemed to finally start caring when he saw a threat to his throne as best in class. Now, they are rivals, constantly butting heads, arguing, and competing to best the other.

  
Lance quickly scoffs back and makes it a point to scowl extra hard at Keith’s reflection as he applies his morning moisturiser. However, to no surprise to Lance, Keith does now leave it there.

  
“What’s wrong McClain? Are you scowling cos you know I got a better mark than you in last week’s test?”

  
Lance can see the confident smirk adorning Keith’s features and it irks him even more.

  
“No! I’m just annoyed that you still think a mullet is a good haircut in 2020. And I totally got a better mark than you on that test!” Lance huffs out.

  
“Keep telling yourself that” Keith sighs.

  
“Hmpf” Lance huffs and can feel the frustration coiling in his gut, so he quickly finishes off his morning routine and goes back to his dorm room.

  
Keith is left scoffing as he sees Lance rushing out of the bathroom. He had to come to the University earlier than usual, but he guesses he can’t complain since he gets a free ride with his older brother Shiro, who is a 28-year-old lecturing assistant who is studying a Masters of Science in Space Science and Astronomy. Keith decided splashing some water on his face was a good idea because 7.00 am is way too early in the morning for anyone to be awake. And yet, even when not in class, he still manages to run into Lance and have him piss him off. Keith dries off his face a bit aggressively and starts walking to Shiro’s office.

  
As Keith is walking his mind can’t help but wander back to Lance because seriously, how self-centred and obnoxious can one person be?! He’s been obsessed with beating Keith since the beginning and formed this rivalry between the two. At first, Keith was oblivious, he didn’t really care about what marks he got as long as he got his degree at the end, but with Lance introduced into the picture … well … that changed. He still doesn’t really care about what marks he gets, what he does care about though is getting better marks than Lance so he can rub it in his face. He never really understood why Lance bugs him so much, he just does.

  
Before he knows it, Keith is in front of Shiro’s office that he shares with two other lecturing assistants in the Faculty of Science, Allura and Adam. Allura is a 28-year-old woman currently undergoing a Master of Science in Aquatic Managing and Conservation, whilst Adam is a 29-year old doing a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering. He enters the office and sees Shiro with a stack of paper in front of him and Allura in the same situation, both looking as dead as ever.

  
“Good morning guys”, Keith says as warmly as he can, trying not to show his frustration at seeing Lance first thing in the morning. They both groan in unison.

They’ve both been drowning in work lately, between juggling correcting students work and working on their own thesis, so the two are running on fumes by now.

  
“That bad huh?” Keith humours them.

  
“I need to finish correcting these Lab assignments by tomorrow night and I have no idea how I’m gonna manage considering I just finished correcting a different set of Lab assignments.” Shiro groans. He’s been correcting assignments from students nonstop all week and one look at him can show you just how tired he is, with dark purple bags under his eyes and drooping eyelids. Allura isn’t fairing any better, also sporting her own pair of undereye bags.

  
“Same here, I have a set of lab assignments I must finish by tonight so that tomorrow I can go work on data collection for my thesis.” Allura sighs as she lays her head on her desk. He doesn’t understand much Biology, being someone who’s studied mostly Physics as a science in his life, but he knows the basics, and her thesis is actually very interesting. Apparently, there is a species of coral that grows along the coast that’s in a great risk of going extinct, and she’s going around diving trying to track down where this coral is growing so that the national databases will know where it is, and to find the common factors between the places where it is dwindling to hopefully help conserve it.

  
“Ye I get you Allura, spent all of last night sitting in the satellite room listening to the audio we’ve collected and yet there’s still so much more data and experiments I need to do” Shiro adds with a hint of exasperation as he pinches the bridge of his nose. Shiro’s research is equally as interesting, if not more according to Keith. He’s researching about merging binaries in different systems and trying to relate the converging of these black holes with Einstein’s theory of relativity with the hopes of plugging up the holes found in it.

  
Keith settles down on the chair opposite Shiro’s and proceeds to scroll through Instagram till its time for his first lecture of the day.

  
After roughly 30 minutes Allura gets up and grabs her bag and says that she has to go for her first lecture of the day. It’s a tad early but she likes to sit down and talk with Professor Coran, who happens to be her uncle, before they have to start their class. She says goodbye to the two brothers and gives Shiro a thumbs up for good luck and is quickly on her way.

  
* * *

  
Lance releases an exasperated sigh as he stomps his way back to his dorm room. Keith really grinds on his nerves with his cocky attitude and stupid haircut. It pisses him off mostly that it actually looks good on him, though he would never admit that. But how can he just state so calmly that he will beat Lance at the test? How big of an ego do you need to have?!

  
Despite his anger, he still opens the door softly, knowing that his friends are probably both asleep now. He tiptoes inside and sees that Hunk is still on his stomach under a mess of blankets, snoring on his respective bed, but Pidge fell asleep on her laptop … again. Its moments like these that he is grateful that they got the soft rug because there is no way that he’s going to be able to carry Pidge up onto her bunk bed, despite her small size, and he won’t leave her like this knowing she’ll probably wake up with a sore neck if he leaves her like that. He climbs onto her bed and grabs her blanket and pillow and places them both on the rug. He then goes to grab Pidge putting her arms around her neck and lifting her from her thighs so she’s laying against his chest, and internally thanks whatever god is out there that Pidge and Hunk are both the heaviest sleepers he knows, quite ironic considering how light of a sleeper he himself is. He slowly lowers his friend onto the rug and covers her with her blanket.

  
He admires how cute she looks, albeit knowing that he’ll never tell her unless he wants a broomstick shoved so far up his ass it comes out of his mouth. She may be small, but she is a force to be reckoned with. Despite that, Pidge is like a little sister to him and he has felt that way from the first moment he got to know her 5 years ago.

  
He grabs a fresh set of clothes and quickly changes out of his pyjamas. He spends a good 10 minutes making sure his hair and clothes look right. Despite not showing it, Lance is insecure about many things, but he’s confident of his looks and makes it a point to make sure he looks his best at all times. After he’s done, he grabs his bag and leaves for his first lecture of the day.

* * *

  
Lance enters the lecture room in the Biology Department and sees two familiar faces.

  
“Hey Allura, Professor Coran, what’s up?” Lance says with a smile and a small wave. He approaches the two leaning against the desk at the front of the class.

  
“Well, a ceiling, some fluorescent lights, a temperature regulator and most probably various species of insects and microbes.” Coran deadpans with a straight face as he twirls his moustache. Lance just stares at him for a few seconds until he bursts into laughter from the unironic dad joke. The man in question lifts one ginger brow at him as a question, seeing as his niece, one of Lance’s first and only friends made at the University, is also laughing softly beside him. But he shakes away the thought and sends Lance to his seat seeing as he has to start the lecture.

  
Professor Coran’s lectures are always his favourite, he jokes around constantly and can make even the most boring of topics interesting somehow. He’s also constantly changing the subject and discusses the weirdest things. Lately, he’s made it a point that his students teach him a new acronym that ‘the youths’ use whilst texting. His favourite is ‘ngl’, even if he hasn’t really understood when it should be used.

  
The lecture goes on business as usual, with Coran explaining the concepts in his own goofy way and Allura occasionally jumping in to further explain a certain detail or to explain how this will tie into their coursework. After two hours the lecture finishes and Lance and Allura walk away together. They’ve been friends for a little over three years now, he met her when he started at the Garrison University due to her working as a lecturing assistant to Professor Coran in the Biology department. They quickly hit it off and have been friends since, she even became one of ‘the squad’ with him, Pidge and Hunk and she introduced them to her best friend Shiro, who also joined the squad. They don’t talk for long as Allura needs to go to her next lecture and Lance needs to run to the Physics building for his Relativity lecture, so they say their goodbyes and he’s off running.

  
* * *

  
Lance makes it just in time to his class, damn those 4 flights of stairs. He curses under his breath as he feels his right leg start to cramp up and hurt. Its something that has been occurring way too frequently lately, especially after physical excursion, and considering he’s constantly running between the Physics and Biology building ….. it’s a frequent pain in the ass. He enters the class quickly and essentially limps it to his desk, breathing a sigh of relief when he sits down and isn’t putting pressure on his leg anymore. It still hurts, but less.

  
Keith sees Lance stumbling into the lecture hall and he almost looks like he’s … limping? Huh, that’s weird, Keith ignores the quiet wince he hears from Lance, who sits on the front row with him a few seats away. He and Lance don’t share all of their classes, due to being in different courses, but they share most of their Physics classes.

  
The class drags on as usual; Relativity is a very interesting subject, but the professor just drags on and on and on and her voice is so monotone that it’s almost impossible to not want to fall asleep. Now that the pain in his legs has subsided, he’s about to doze off until the lecturer announces that the lesson is over and she will pass out last week’s tests. Lance suddenly perks up, he worked super hard to study for this test and is expecting a rather high mark. He’s practically jumping in his seat by the time he gets his test back and throws a fist pump when he sees his result. 93/100, it’s a great mark and one of the highest marks Lance has gotten in the whole semester, he can’t wait to rub it into Keith’s face!

  
Lance quickly gets up from the seat and rushes to Keith with a confident goofy smile on his lips. He knows he beat Keith this time he just knows it.

  
“Sooooo I bet you didn’t get a higher mark than me” Lance says whilst wiggling his eyebrows. Keith scoffs at him and waits for Lance to announce his mark first.

  
“It’s a pretty high mark so you definitely didn’t manage to beat me this time. I got a 93 out of – "

  
“93 and a half” Keith says with a devilish smirk, cutting off Lance before he finishes.

  
“…… WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK” Lance screams with his hands throw out. What the hell?! He worked so hard for this test and yet Keith still managed to beat him, by half a mark no less!!

  
“I told you this morning I’m gonna do better than you, didn’t I? I guess I was right after all” Keith says with a knowing smirk.

  
“No way, show me I don’t believe you!” Lance bites out. Keith simply holds up his test score, 93 and a half clearly written out in red ink, and his grin widens even further, and he sees Lance’s eyes widen as they settle upon the paper presented to him. All Lance wants to do is wipe that damn smirk off his face, but he knows he can’t, so, crumpling the test paper in his hand, Lance storms off to his dorm room.

  
Keith feels satisfied knowing that, even though by only half a mark, he still managed to beat Lance. And the enraged face that Lance made after being so cocky about his mark was like a cherry on top. He stuffs his test paper into his backpack and starts making his way calmly to his next class.

  
* * *

  
Lance stomps his way up the stairs leading to the floor his dorm room is on. He’s practically fuming with rage and frustration. How the hell did Keith STILL manage to beat him even after he’s worked so hard?. Lance was literally up day and night studying and yet, Keith still beat him despite being so careless and uncaring about his own marks. He only cares about beating him!

  
Lance can feel his right calf and hamstring starting to tense up and cramp as he barges his way up the steps, but the pain just pisses him off even more. Why can’t his leg stop acting up! It's annoying having a leg cramp every time he decides he wants to do more than walk at a gingerly pace. He ends up running, as best he can, to his dorm room and practically falls through the door.

  
Hunk immediately looks up as he hears the door burst open and sees Lance stumble inside. He leaps from his desk chair and puts an arm around his best friend.  
“Woah Woah what’s wrong why are you limping?!?” Hunk says in an evidently worried voice. He helps Lance onto one of the beanbags and sits on the rug next to him whilst Pidge just stares at them from the other bean bag waiting for an explanation. Lance sighs and leans back.

  
“My leg is acting up again” he huffs out.

  
“Lance, your leg has been cramping up like this constantly for the past month, but it has never been bad enough to leave you limping! Can you please go see a doctor about it?” Hunk practically begs Lance. “This has been going on for long enough and now it’s getting worse!”

  
“He’s just becoming a grandad, it's about time his knees start giving out” Pidge says with a straight face.

  
Lance immediately looks up at her with a feigned hurt expression. “How dare you say such things about your loving grandfather! I’ll have you know that Cuban Abuelos go past their 100th birthday still able to run circles around the younger generations and able to throw a slipper with impeccable aim from kilometres away!” He ends with a chuckle, unable to hold back the silliness for much longer.

  
Pidge giggles along with him till her expression becomes serious again and she pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Hunk is right though Lance, these cramps have been going on for a good while now and not only have they become more frequent, but they’re painful enough to leave you limping. It’s still early in the afternoon so the nearby hospital is still open, you should give them a call and schedule an appointment.”

  
Hunk just nods along with Pidge’s words and Lance groans out an agreement and goes to grab his phone. He just needs to give it another week or two and everything will be fine, but he hates worrying his friends. He knows Hunk won’t sleep till Lance agrees to go see a doctor and, although she won’t admit it, Pidge too will probably waste time worrying over his health. So, if wasting an hour at the hospital is what it will take for them to stop worrying, he’ll do it.

  
The phone rings three times and then he hears a kind lady’s voice. Lance explains that he has been having these odd leg cramps in his right leg and that they have become increasingly painful and the nice lady directs him to the appropriate wards and they discuss available time slots. Lance now has a stupid hospital appointment for next Friday at 8 am and although he thinks is a massive waste of time, he can already see his friends relaxing a tad.

  
Oh well, the appointment is there now, what’s the worst that could happen anyways?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the first chapter is done! Coran is highly inspired by an actual professor I have and most of his in-class shenanigans are almost direct replicas of things that actually happened in class xD the acronym this is something my professor actually does lmao. Anywho, I really hope you like it and would love to hear your opinions in the comments, whether you liked it, which part was your favourite, which parts you don't like .. anything really!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second chapter is up!!! I'm so happy, people have been leaving Kudos and I even got a comment!! I'm so incredibly happy and thankful to those that enjoyed the first chapter and hopefully, you'll continue to enjoy this fic. 
> 
> This chapter is mainly focusing on Lance's friendship with Hunk and Pidge as well as his relationship with Keith (that despite them complaining about one another a lot they don't truly hate each other). Next chapter will also be focusing on Lance's relationship with the gang (Shiro and Allura mainly) and after that, the angst begins! So enjoy these fluffy chapters while you still can.

“Good morning, or well, the afternoon is 2 minutes old so good afternoon everyone!” Coran says brightly as he twirled his ginger moustache between his fingers. He was very giddy about his lesson plan today and was practically vibrating with excitement. He clapped his hands together to make sure he has everyone’s attention and when the room became silent, he took that as his cue to start.

“Ok everyone, so today we will be discussing a very curious specimen, the Maltese Badger! It is a rare species of badger found in few select areas in California.”

Everyone in the class was getting intrigued and Lance leaned forwards on his seat in focus, wanting to hear more. Coran brought up a picture of a badger but in place of the usual black and white stripes, they were red and white!

“As you can see, the badger’s most notable trait is its red and white colouration, as opposed to the usual black and white. The man who discovered it, William White, was a Maltese man who came to America after the first world war. The colouration reminded him of his homeland’s flag, which is half red and half white, and thus, he decided to name it after it and gave the species the name _Meles melitensis_ because, as most of you probably don’t know, melitensis means Malta in Latin!”

Everyone was equally amazed, the class now being full of silent “wows” and discussion about such a rare species. That is until one student in the class raises their hands. Coran gestures for them to speak and Rolo, a chill guy Lance hung out with a few times, speaks up.

“Um … Professor … are you trolling us? Because I tried looking it up just now to see more about it and … well … nothing came up. It doesn’t exist according to google.”

Coran’s previously amused and happy expression falls. He seems like he’s genuinely sad, even his moustache seems to have fallen sadly!

“Oh Rolo, couldn’t you have let me enjoy my little joke for a little longer?”

Lance suddenly interrupts with his hands smashing onto the top of his desk.

“Wait a second! So, you’re telling me you spent the last 20 minutes playing a prank on us. A prank, might I add, that you came up with a scientific name, edited a photo and came up with a whole backstory for? And I just spent 20 minutes taking down notes about a fake badger???”

After a moment of silence, Lance just bursts into laughter and the rest of his class joins in. This is why they loved Coran, he was fun, loved jokes and stupid discussions about why Star Wars is better than Annie the musical, or about how he wishes his students could perform and sing their exam instead of just sitting at a desk and writing because that would be more fun. But most important of all, they love how genuinely caring he is. He is the head of the Biology Department and loves all of his students as if they were his own children. Despite being all jokes, he treats them all with a certain level of tenderness and affection that very few have. He notices when one or many of his students are distressed and makes it a point to talk to them and comfort them. Hell, he’s even ‘wasted’ entire lectures just talking to his class with the hope of reducing their exam stress or comforting them with whatever may be bothering them. Coran must have a throne in heaven engraved with his name and moustaches because this man is a literal saint.

They eventually get to the actual material they were supposed to discuss, which somehow seemed even less believable than the badger story, but the wonders of nature he guesses.

A few minutes before the end of the lecture, Allura takes over to explain what their next practical lab session will entail and soon, everyone is filing out of the lecture hall. Allura and Lance, as usual, leave the lecture hall side by side, talking idly and usually discussing whatever interesting things he learned in the class.

“I still can’t believe that Professor Coran managed to convince us there is a Maltese badger for 20 minutes, and probably more if Rolo hadn’t intervened. Also, WHAT THE FUCK EVOLUTION! Like seriously, are certain plants that desperate that they evolved to look and smell like a dead asshole???? Honestly, the badger is more believable that the ass plant”

Allura chuckles at Lance’s exclamation. “Well, you know how Uncle Coran is, loves making jokes and pranking people. Though I have to admit, even I was surprised by the amount of effort he put into this one. And yes, I was just as surprised as you were when I first learned about that plant … just wait till you get to the orchid that looks like a bee so other bees try to copulate with it and in turn end up covered in pollen.”

Lance just stares at her but before he can freak out again about evolution and how wacky it is, they have to part ways to go to their respective next classes. Lance doesn’t hang out with Allura nearly enough, she’s very poised in nature, but once you get to know her, she’s almost as much of a goofball as Lance is. Although he can’t blame her for keeping that more fun-loving side of her in check, she is a lecturing assistant after all and needs to show maturity at all times.

***

Later in the day, as Lance is leaving his Mechanics class, he sees his least favourite mullet to date in the corridor. He very not subtly nor gently smashes his shoulder against Keith’s and he is extremely satisfied with the result. Not only did Lance startle him badly enough that he practically jumped off the floor and nearly dropped his phone, but he also released the highest-pitched yelp Lance thought was possible to come out of the man’s throat.

Upon seeing such a reaction Lance can’t even think of a witty comment, he just doubles over with laughter, hands braced on his knees and Lance is practically wheezing by the time Keith realised what happened. He is infuriated, to say the least, and seeing Lance practically choke on laughter makes his anger rise even further.

Keith can feel his eye twitch in irritation, but he decides that entertaining Lance and probably inflating his ego for being able to get under Keith’s skin so easily isn’t something he wants to do. So, Keith huffs out an angry breath and starts speed walking away.

Lance stops his laughing fit immediately as he sees Keith walk away. Did that mullet really just walk away after a hilarious reaction like that? No no no Lance was NOT going to let him walk away from that. Lance starts following Keith’s brisk pace and when he catches up to him, a thought pops into his head and a devious smile graces his cheeks. Lance nudges Keith with his shoulder again and starts walking at a slightly faster pace, just enough that Keith is a tad behind him.

Keith sees this, notices this blatant invite for a competition, and yet despite how much he logically reasons out that he should ignore it, he can’t. So, Keith starts picking up his pace and quickens his steps enough to pass Lance, obviously nudging him with his shoulder as he does so. This keeps on going, with Lance going faster to pass Keith and Keith doing the same and by the time they reach their class they are all-out sprinting.

***

They reached their Nuclear and Particle Physics class sweaty and gulping down air greedily. They both chuckle together … or well, try to in their exhausted state. Keith straightens up and fixes his clothes and hair, how did he end up racing Lance throughout the Garrison halls again?

Keith is angry with himself, no, angry isn’t a strong enough word. He’s enraged, how on earth did he let Lance Mc-Fucking-Clain race him around the University campus and probably make a fool out of himself. Why did he let this one kid get under his skin when he’s KNOWN for having a cold exterior and for always keeping his cool? He is famous for not letting anyone bother him and yet, this lanky tan teen somehow manages to bypass all of that. So yes, Keith is infuriated with himself and so, he stomps into the classroom and quickly finds his seat.

Lance, on the other hand, is beyond satisfied with himself. Yes, his right leg is currently cursing all of his life choices and probably cursing his existence if the stiff pain he’s feeling is any indication, but it was worth it. He managed to keep up with Keith in an all-out race through the Garrison halls and can see how frustrated Keith is. He pats himself on his back for managing to piss Keith off and for shattering, even if a little, his cool-guy persona. After fixing himself up and making sure he’s presentable he limply waltzes into class and sits down in his usual seat.

***

Nuclear and Particle physics is interesting and all, but after 3 hours of listening about it … it kind of gets old. So when he opens his phone and sees a text from Hunk asking him if he wants subway Lance is more than eager to agree and after a few texts they agree to meet up outside the Physics building and they can walk it together from there because Dios Lance is so grateful that they have so many food places surrounding their university.

Lance skips out of the Physic building and as soon as he sees Hunk, he runs up to him and jumps onto him. Thankfully, his best friend is a very sturdy figure in his life, literally and figuratively, so he barely moves when Lance practically tackles him and clings onto his back like a koala.

“Piggyback ride to the cookies?” Lance says with a wide grin.

“Hello to you too” Hunk says with a chuckle as he grabs onto Lances thighs to properly position him onto his back. He has done these types of shenanigans with Lance too many times to count, so it comes as second nature to him at this point. Plus, although Hunk won’t admit it to Lance directly, he’s still extremely worried about these cramps Lance has been getting and can’t wait for that doctor’s appointment to come around, so they know exactly what is happening. But until that time comes, he’s going to spare Lance as much time as he can from straining his leg and possibly making things worse.

Keith sees this childish display of affection between Lance and whoever this … friend of his is, and he’s reminded of just how immature Lance truly is. Really, how did they even let him get into the Garrison, a university known for being one of the best in the country? Keith sighs and starts walking away, he promised Shiro he would pick them up something to eat before he went to their apartment.

***

Lance and Hunk slowly made their way to subway, making idle chatter, and on the way they met up with Pidge who was waiting for the pair outside of her classroom. Hunk put Lance down now, by the latter’s insistence, and the trio made their way to the sandwich shop.

They were just outside the establishment when, from the small garden area next to it, they heard the beginning drums of a very distinct and well-loved song. Indeed, the group of random college kids all sitting on the grass playing music on their phones were currently playing ‘Milkshake’ by Kelis. Hunk, Pidge and Lance all froze simultaneously and looked at each other just as the lyrics start being sung.

Hunk immediately lowers himself, one hand to his mouth and starts pretending he’s beatboxing to the song, doing various jerky movements with his other hand and overall feeling the beat. Pidge starts dancing in the most horrendous way, going from the sprinkler to the running man to the robot in a matter of seconds. Lance stands in the middle of them, lip-synching with the song perfectly and rolling his hips sensually in an all too practised motion. It is clear that this isn’t the trio’s first rodeo with this song. By the time the bridge rolls around Lance slowly crouches to the floor as he sways his hips and is now on the floor imitating Kelis from her music video. The group of teens that were playing the song turned the volume up to full by now and were applauding and whistling to the performance they were putting on.

***

Keith, now the owner of two foot-long subs and two cookies, exits the sandwich shop thinking he’ll just go to his car and be on his way home. But no, his eyes are instead assaulted by the sight of Lance, fucking Lance, dancing and singing to milkshake in a way that is definitely not PG13. Keith is about to start getting pissed off at him when Lance swaying his hips lower and lower and is now laying down on the grass. Keith cannot believe his eyes, Lance is on his back, mouthing the words to Milkshake whilst feeling up his body and rocking his hips way to sexually.

And yet despite how hard Keith is trying to be angry at the display in front of him, he can’t help but me mesmerised with the way Lance is moving his body, as if it were a wave in the ocean, fluid and frankly perfect. He can’t tear his eyes away, as if under a spell, and so he stands there gawking at his self-proclaimed rival air humping to Kelis.

***

The song finished and Hunk grabbed his two friends and lifted them into a bone-crushing hug while they all laughed together, light-hearted and cheery. Lance really is beyond grateful for his friends, they don’t make fun of him for his goofiness like many before them did, no, they joined in and made it ten times more fun!

After their giggle-fest is over, they actually start walking up the few steps that lead to the subway but are stopped by a dumbfounded Keith. Lance’s grin somehow widens seeing just how flabbergasted his rival looks.

“What’s wrong mullet? Cat got your tongue at how good our performance was?” Lance purrs and the sound snaps him out of his haze. He has to come up with a comeback quickly before Lance realises he was blatantly staring at Lance’s lustful hip rolls.

“No, I was simply trying to figure whether it’s possible for someone’s brain to stop developing past the age of 3” Keith says with a smirk and he sees Lance bristle at his words.

“At least I didn’t forget my sense of enjoyment back in the 80s where your hair should be.” Lance spits out, now scowling. Keith should probably get out of his way before the cookie fiend that’s within Lance tears him limb from limb. But before Lance can think further about how he would maul Keith to get to subway cookies he starts walking away.

“You know, with how much you talk about my hair I can’t help but think you secretly like it” Keith says as he walks away with a wink and is satisfied by the flush that is now colouring Lance’s cheeks. And with that, Keith finally enters his car and starts his drive towards his and Shiro’s apartment.

Lance is still blushing by the time Keith left and he huffs and storms into the subway, he’s going to get extra cookies for this. Pidge strolled in after him looking as smug as ever.

“So … I’ll take your persistent blush as proof that you do actually think his hair suits him” she says, and she’s more than pleased when she sees his blush deepen.

“Wha-! No! Of course not!” Lance sputters and he can tell that his cheeks keep getting warmer. “Ok maybe ye he does kinda look hot but that doesn’t mean that people in 2020 should be wearing mullets!” Lance tries to convince Pidge and now an equally amused Hunk, but he knows he dug his own grave as soon as the word ‘hot’ was uttered from his mouth.

“Oooooh, so you think Keith is hot?” Hunk questions and Pidge is seconds from bursting into laughter.

“Hunk! Hermano! I thought I could trust you!” Lance says, a hand to his heart as if this was the greatest betrayal in history.

“Sorry Lance but I’m not the one who admitted that I think my rival is hot” the Samoan says without a hint of apology in his tone.

“Whatever, can we just forget this and get our cookies now?” Lance mutters already making his way to the counter.

“Ye sure let’s go get cookies Mr I think Keith Kogane is hot” Pidge says as she skips alongside Lance far too amused by the whole situation. Lance just groans and waits in line to get his cookies in hopes that the sugar could make his friends forget this whole conversation.

***

A few minutes later Keith is opening the door to his and his brother’s shared apartment. He still can’t get the image of Lance dancing out of his head. Damn you gay thoughts! He walks into the living room to see his older brother Shiro lounging on the couch.

“Yo, did you get the fo- why are you blushing?” Shiro asks with genuine curiosity. Keith sputters and just stares at Shiro with wide eyes.

“Wha- I’m not blushing! Here have your damn sandwich” Keith throws the bag at Shiro. He tries to will the blush to go away but he can just feel the heat on his face being persistent. Shiro smiles at Keith but doesn’t question him further thankfully. Keith settles onto the sofa and eats his sub with his brother while they watch Netflix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was chapter 2! Tell me what you think in the comments, I really enjoy reading them!  
> The badger story is real btw ... our lecturer actually did that to us, I spent 20 minutes taking notes for nothing! But it was pretty funny and he's a really cool guy so it's fine.  
> Next chapter will most likely be up tomorrow since I have till chapter 4 written already. From then onwards I won't be posting daily but I'll make it a point to post weekly! So I hope you'll stick around :)))


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is here!! This chapter is once again a fluffy chapter that focuses on Lance's friendships .. but enjoy it now because in the next chapter the angst will start >:)

Lance was walking on a stone path surrounded by greenery and a few benches just outside the Faculty of Science. It was 4 pm and he was exhausted, but at least he was done for the day and could go to his dorm and relax. He, Hunk and Pidge were actually all going to chill together and watch a movie because Dios they needed a break. As he was walking though, he heard a familiar set of voices and, low and behold, Allura and Shiro were sitting at one of the picnic tables in the garden to the side of the stone path Lance was walking on. He sees Allura during lectures, however, he hasn’t seen Shiro in quite a while and so he got excited and immediately made his way to their table with a toothy grin and a wave.

The two stopped their conversations and sent equally warm smiles towards their approaching friend. Lance sat down at their table next to Allura.

“Hey guys! Long time no see Shiro” Lance said ecstatically.

“Hi Lance, it really has been a while huh. So, how’s life been?” Shiro acknowledged with a smile. The two are barely able to see each other, with them both being extremely busy, especially Shiro, and in completely different departments most of the time, but they still keep up with each other online.

“Ugggghhhh it’s just assignment after assignment after test after assignment” Lance groans.

“Well I don’t know about the Physics department or other lecturers, but you have an assignment you have turn in for me and Uncle Coran in three days” Allura deadpans for Lance.

The Cuban groans even louder but then looks up at Allura, pouting and batting his eyelashes giving her his best puppy dog eyes possible. “Unless you extend the deadline” he says, emphasising it by batting his lashes even harder.

Allura just stares at him with her best ‘are you kidding me?’ expression. Lance shrugs because hey, at least he tried.

“Come on Lance, you can finish your work in the given deadline if you manage your time well” Shiro adds.

“Ye ye thanks space dad” Lance says with a grin. It’s a nickname he and Pidge came up with for Shiro because he’s the dad of the group and studies about space, hence, space dad! Best part? Shiro hates it.

“I’m not that old! I’m only 7 years older than you y’know?” By now both Lance and Allura are chuckling and trying to hold back their laughter.

“God I’ve missed hanging out with you guys, we need to plan a squad outing sometime soon and- Wait!” Lance perked up mid-sentence, looking even more excited than he has this whole conversation. “Pidge, Hunk and I were actually going to take a bit of a break today and chill in our dorm room and watch a movie, maybe order some pizza. You guys wanna join?” Lance said in one breath, clearly very happy about his idea because honestly? He has missed Shiro and Allura, they were part of the squad, but he hasn’t spent some quality time with them outside of University matters or online in god knows how long.

The two in question looked at Lance grinning, they definitely deserved a break with all the work they’ve had recently. So, they agreed to be at the dorm room at 8 pm for an epic movie night at casa del Hange, as Lance liked to refer to it. He felt like a genius when he managed to mash their names together to come up with a title for their dorm room, however, the rest of the occupants didn’t seem as enthusiastic about the idea.

So, with their plans settled, the three went on with their day.

***

Shiro opened the door to his apartment and walked into the living room to see Keith sprawled on the couch on his phone. Shiro threw his jacket on top of him, startling the teen so badly he ended up falling off the couch and onto the floor.

“Hello to you too” Keith grumbled as he lifted the jacket off his head and got up off the floor, watching his brother’s shoulders rise and fall with his laughter. Keith couldn’t help but smile as he settled back onto the couch next to his now seated brother.

“So, how has my favourite little brother been? Not having seen your amazing big brother for a whole day. You must be distraught!” Shiro says teasingly with dramatic expressions. Keith sigh exasperatedly trying to hide his own laughter at his brother’s silly actions.

“Oh, you have no idea, I thought I may have died from sadness from not seeing your undercut for a few hours!” Keith adds with his own dramatic flourish.

Shiro bows hid head slightly, overly exaggerated apologetic expression on his face. “My deepest apologies for keeping myself away for so long, but alas, I am here now”

The two burst out into laughter together. Keith loved Shiro dearly, he was the only person that could draw out Keith’s more goofy side. Granted, Shiro was also his only friend, Keith was … a bit of a lone wolf.

After the laughter dies down, Shiro turns to Keith once more. “Soooo, in a few hours I’m actually gonna meet up with the squad to have a movie night ‘cause we’re all far too stressed right now and need a break. I was wondering if you’d like to tag along?” Shiro says hopefully, giving Keith his best puppy dog eyes. He knows Keith doesn’t really have any friends other than him and it worries him. He’s actually been trying to make Keith meet the squad for a good while now, but he never accepts.

As expected, Keith sighs and refuses the offer, saying that he needs to study for a test the day after. Shiro, although visibly disappointed, doesn’t push it further. Keith knows that he means well, but he honestly doesn’t see why he should meet up and try to become friends with Shiro’s friends. He’s fine as he is, he has Shiro and doesn’t really need anyone else. He feels bad for disappointing Shiro though, so he tries to continue the conversation as best as he can.

“I still can’t believe you genuinely refer to them as ‘the squad’, it’s so lame” Keith says with no hint of malice in his voice. Shiro turns to him, pretending to look offended but Keith can see a hint of a smirk at the corner of his lips. “I’ll have you know that ‘the squad’ is epic, but if you want you can call us by our formal name, Team Voltron” Shiro says. Keith just rolls his eyes at that and starts making his way to his room to finish up his work.

After a little bit, Keith could hear the door opening and Shiro shouting to tell him he’s leaving. Keith says his goodbyes and continues on with his work.

***

In their little dorm, the three occupants insisted that the esteemed guests get the honour of sitting on the bean bags whilst they settled themselves on the rug around Pidge’s laptop. They had yet to decide what movie they actually wanted to watch. On one hand, Allura and Pidge both wanted to watch a horror movie, more specifically, ‘The Nun’. On the other hand, Hunk hates horror movies and gets scared easily and Lance was defending him because it's not like Lance hates horror movies or anything nope definitely not. Shiro was just looking between the two bickering pairs, pinching the bridge of his nose when he interrupted with an exasperated “Guys”.

Immediately the four stopped their arguing and there was a beat of silence till Pidge jumped in. “Oh no, we’re in trouble, he’s using his dad voice” Pidge says with feigned fright, though her devious grin can never be fully wiped off her face. “Please go easy on us space dad, we’ll behave we swear!” Lance adds with a devious smirk to match the one on his little friend.

Shiro is now fully facepalming with his non-prosthetic hand, although he’s wondering whether he should do it with his metal arm in the hopes of knocking himself out. That is until Hunk pipes up.

“What if we watch a shitty teen movie as they do in, y’know, shitty teen movies”

Everyone is silent for a moment till they all jump in, agreeing with the idea. They even had a stack of pizza boxes accompanying them and a few beers, it’s literally perfect.

And so, they all agree on watching the first teen rom-com they found on the internet and all settled down, eating greasy pizza, drinking beer and making fun of the bad script and how it's obvious that the main heroine is going to get together with her rival.

***

By the end of the movie, they weren’t even paying attention anymore. They were seated in the form of a circle and just talking together.

“Ok BUT, you cannot tell me that a hot dog is a sandwich. It’s completely different!” Lance exclaims dramatically.

Pidge just shakes her head and pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry Lance, but I just finished doing a statistical test to see the level of similarity between sandwiches and hot dogs to see whether they are indeed the same or not and, the evidence is here. According to this test, the null hypothesis got accepted, there is no significant difference between the two hence, a hot dog is a sandwich.”

“I call bullshit” Lance says right up in her face because, seriously, how can a hot dog be a sandwich???

“Bullshit? Are you calling mathematics bullshit McClain?” Pidge says challengingly to Lance, getting even more in his face than he already was.

The boy in questions narrows his eyes at her. “Yes, I am … Katie.” He says and a chorus of ‘Ooooohs’ reverberates around the small room, but Lance does not stop there. “Afterall, mathematics is all made up.”

Right before Pidge launches herself towards Lance to claw his eyes out Hunk grabbed her to hold her back. “Ok ok let’s stop that conversation there before you two kill each other.” Hunk says with a nervous laugh. The two sat back down but continue to glare at each other occasionally from their peripherals.

Allura looks at Shiro with an amused grin. “We raised quite amusing children haven’t we Shiro?”. Shiro sputters, even Allura is against him now! He sighed in defeat, but he just accepts that he can’t beat them, so he’ll join then, and answers her. “Indeed we have, I don’t know what we did wrong as parents.”

Lance and Pidge immediately jump up and start discussing with Shiro and Allura why they and Hunk are the best children and even start listing off their points. The rest are all laughing at the ridiculous display and even Lance and Pidge can’t help but giggle mid-presentation.

However, the fun had to come to an end eventually as Hunk speaks up. “Listen, guys, tonight has been great fun and we definitely need to plan another one soon, but it’s 1 am and Lance has a hospital appointment at 8 am that he needs to get up for and Pidge has a lecture at 9 am. So, I say we call it a night.” Hunk says with a smile, he’s always been a worrywart so it’s no surprise that he would be the one to stop the fun to make sure his friends get a decent amount of sleep.

Shiro and Allura, however, both looked like they had seen a ghost. “Wait wait wait hospital? Are you ok?” Shiro asks Lance in a very worried tone and Allura is also staring at him with an equally worried face.

“Oh uh, yeah I’m fine.” Lance says sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. They didn’t seem convinced though, so Lance continued explaining himself. “I’ve just been having these weird painful cramps in my right leg and sometimes it goes completely numb, has been happening for a month or so. But recently it got a bit worse so Hunk kind of forced me to make a hospital appointment at Altea hospital to go check it out.” They both seemed to relax a bit, but the worry was evidently still lingering in their heads.

“Hey, if you want, I have a check-up appointment at Altea tomorrow at the same time. I can come to pick you up and we can carpool” Shiro offers warmly. He has a slow-developing form of muscular dystrophy called Becker muscular dystrophy and so, he goes for check-ups at the hospital once a month to carefully monitor its progression.

Lance smiles at him and takes him up on his offer and, after agreeing that Shiro is gonna pass by for him at 7.30 am, Shiro and Allura leave for their own homes and the rest climb onto their beds and sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnnd it's finished!!! Tell me what you think of this chapter in the comments below! Next chapter the angst will start and the main plot of the story will begin!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The angst begins!!!! This chapter marks the beginning of Lance's story fighting a horrible life-threatening illness. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Keith sat in his Relativity lecture at 8 am on Friday morning, wondering where a familiar tan hothead was. Because if Keith had to be honest, in his 4 years of University with Lance, he _cannot_ remember a single time that he missed a class. Hell, the guy even came to class with fevers and all kinds of sickness .. he’d come in any shape as long as he didn’t miss a class. So, he was surprised when the Professor walked in and the lecture started but there was still no Lance in sight. He wondered what the reason may be. Who knows, maybe the idiot didn’t hear his alarm for once and is still fast asleep in his dorm. Keith tried to stop thinking about Lance to instead focus on what the Professor was saying, but a small part of him still nagged him.

***

Shiro and Lance arrived at Altea hospital early so they have time to check-in and be sure they’re not late for their respective appointments. Lance would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous, he didn’t particularly like hospitals. Ok, that’s a lie, he hates hospitals. They make him nervous, but there’s not much he can do about it now.

He and Shiro would be in different sectors of the Hospital, so they agreed that after they were ready, they would message each other and wait in the lobby for the other to finish. So, with a pat on his shoulder from Shiro, they were both on their way to their respective appointments.

***

Lance was sitting in the small waiting area nervously anticipating his name to be called. He’s in the neurology department, as the general practitioner he visited before coming to this department had forwarded him here. Lance was absentmindedly scrolling through Instagram when his name got called. He nervously got up and the nurse guided him towards a doctor’s office with ‘Dr Ryner’ written on it.

As soon as he entered, he saw a sweet-looking old lady who he assumed to be Dr Ryner. She had a slim but tall physique, and despite her obvious age she looked at the prime of her health, with only a few wrinkles here and there littering her pale skin, most notably her smile lines and crow’s feet that settled at the corners of her chestnut coloured eyes. Her dark grey hair was kept in a low bun, with a few tendrils falling to frame her face. Overall, she seemed like a very sweet woman at first glance and the sweet smile she offered him helped ease his nerves slightly.

She beckoned Lance forwards and gestured for him to sit. “Good morning dear, I’m Dr Ryner, though you can call me Ryner if you want. And who might you be?” She said as she held her hand out for a handshake. Lance slowly took his hand in hers, clearly nervous as his hands shook slightly, and reciprocated her smile as best as he could, but he couldn’t help but shake this bad feeling gnawing at the pit of his stomach. As soon as the doctor had told him that he would like to forward Lance to the neurology department immediately … Lance has been having this deep sense of dread and anxiety at the pit of his stomach that maybe, this wasn’t as insignificant as he initially thought.

“Hi, um … I’m Lance, Lance McClain. N-nice to meet you” Lance stutters, it’s clear his nerves are high, but Dr Ryner smiles at him warmly and continues the conversation.

“Well Lance, it’s nice to meet you too. Why don’t we get to know each other a little bit before the appointment hmm? I always find it weird talking to strangers, so this way we’ll be more comfortable talking to each other.”

Ok, Lance has decided, this woman isn’t just nice she extremely sweet. So, Lance nods his head to her oddly kind request.

“Great! Let me start us off. My name is Ryner and I practice as a neurological physician, but you already know that. I’m 53-years-old and my favourite hobby is gardening, my favourite colour is green, and I have a pet dog named Daisy.” She pauses, clearly indicating it’s his turn to speak.

“Um, my name is Lance and I’m 21-years-old. I’m currently studying Biology and Physics at Garrison University in the hopes of going into biomechanics. Um, I’m also originally from Cuba, Varadero to be more specific, but my family moved here when I was 8. My favourite colour is blue, and I usually like to either go swimming or hang out with my friends in my free time.” Lance says sheepishly.

Ryner’s face seems to light up, however. “Oh my, biomechanics, what an interesting field! I wish you the best in your future Lance” She smiles at him and he returns it. Without him even realising he’s stopped his slight shaking and stopped wringing his hands together nervously. Ryner is satisfied with the level of calm Lance is at and thus, starts the actual examination.

“So, would you mind telling me why you came here today? I don’t think you just wanted to visit this old lady.” She says with a slight chuckle.

“Well, my right leg has been acting a bit weird lately and the doctor recommended I come here to check it out.” Lance states.

“Acting weirdly how?” Ryner asks, now getting a few papers and a pen to start jotting down whatever Lance is about to say.

“Well, it’s been cramping up rather painfully, especially whenever I do anything strenuous like running. At first, it was easier to ignore but it’s become more frequent and painful lately.”

“I see. And these cramps, are they only in the right leg or do they occur in the left as well, or in your arms?”

“No, my arms are perfectly fine for now. The left leg hadn’t bothered me at first, but it has cramped a handful of times this past week.”

“And how long have you been experiencing these cramps for?”

“Oh, um, I think they started a month and a half ago, but it started getting worse like a week or two ago.”

“Have you experienced any numbness in your legs?”

“Oh yeah, sometimes my right leg goes almost completely numb.”

“And twitching?”

“Ye, sometimes my calves or my fingers start twitching like mad, it’s kinda cool to look at, to be honest.” Lance says with a bit of a chuckle.

Ryner seems to stop for a moment to write everything down and then looks back up at Lance to continue.

“Have you experienced any weakness in your hands and feet that may cause you to trip or be clumsier?”

“Uh ye, I’ve been tripping more often lately, which is not appreciated thank you very much. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be walking up the stairs and suddenly your leg gives out and you penguin slide the rest of the way down?! Or when you get up from your chair to leave the lecture hall and you fall back on your ass?! It’s very embarrassing” Lance says as he crosses his arm and pouts, hoping to lighten the mood in the office once more.

Ryner chuckles at Lance’s answer. “Well I personally don’t think it’s embarrassing, it’s more amusing than anything”.

Lance feigns a gasp of surprise and then starts giggling alongside the doctor.

“What about your speech? Have you experienced any slurred speech or trouble swallowing?”.

Lance thinks for a second and then shakes his head. “Nope, everything is all okay from the neck up.”

After a few more questions, they move onto doing some easy tests, such as the knee-jerk response, and a few other things. Lance doesn’t really give any thought as he goes through whatever instructions Ryner tells him whilst seeing her work.

They eventually go back to the desk and Ryner starts writing again. A minute or so of silence passes and Ryner seems to be done writing and looks back up to Lance. However, her face is sombre, sad almost, and Lance can feel his heart rate start to pick up.

With a deep sigh Dr Ryner begins to speak. “Lance, you’re a smart kid, I can tell, so I won’t try beating around the bush with this. You deserve a straight-forward answer” Ryner states and Lance can feel his hands starts to shake and his breathing quickening as she looks him dead in the eyes and opens her mouth.

“From the symptoms you’ve been discussing, I believe you may have a progressive neurodegenerative disease.”

_No._

_No no no no no no nononnonononononono._

“I think it might be ALS, but we need to run a few tests to be sure of this.”

_This can’t be happening._

_This can’t be real._

“I suggest we start the tests immediately so that by tonight we have the test results and can give you a proper diagnosis.”

Lance can’t hear her anymore. He knows she’s speaking; he can see her open and close her mouth forming words, but he can’t hear anything over the beating of his own heart and the ringing in his ears.

“Unfortunately, with these things, the sooner the better so that we can start treatment immediately.”

This can’t be real though; it has to be a dream. He’s probably in Shiro’s car sleeping on the way to the appointment. Yes, that’s definitely it, he just has to wake up and this will be over everything will be fi-

He’s snapped out of his thought when Ryner gently places her hand on his arm. He looks up at her, tearful wide blue eyes meeting hers. “This isn’t real right? I’m dreaming right?” He asks, voice barely above a whisper but heavy with desperation.

Ryner cannot seem to respond, all she does is tighten her hold on his arm in the hopes of grounding him.

Lance doesn’t know how much time passes, with Ryner’s hand squeezing his arm and him looking down, tears freely falling, trying to wrap his brain around his racing thoughts, when Ryner speaks up.

“Would you like to call someone to be here with you during the tests? It’s always better to have someone close with you, especially right now.” She says gently. Lance is reminded Shiro is here waiting for him.

He opens his phone and checks his notifications to see he has three messages from Shiro.

_8.21 am_

_“Hey bud! I’m ready from my appointment. I’ll be in the lobby waiting :))”_

_8.35 am_

_“Hey Lance, is everything ok? You seem to be taking a while. Message whenever you can.”_

_8.46 am_

_“Are you ok? Can you call me when you see these messages?”_

Lance looks back up at Ryner with hollow eyes. “Uh, ye, I have a friend who came to the hospital as well. I’ll … I’ll call him, if that’s ok” Lance can’t seem to meet her eyes anymore, but he sees her nod and giving him the go-ahead to call with a warm smile.

Lance dials Shiro’s number and lifts the phone to his ear. It barely rings once before he hears his friend’s voice on the other side of the line.

“Hey bud, everything ok? You’ve been in there for a while and I was starting to get worried about you.” Lance can hear that despite Shiro’s friendly tone there was a level of worry underneath it.

“Can you come to the neurology department …. Dr Ryner’s office … please” Lance says barely above a whisper, he can feel tears forming and starting to fall against his cheeks once again against his will.

He can hear Shiro take a sudden breath on the other side of the line followed by rushed footsteps. “What happened Lance? What did the doctor say?” Lance can hear Shiro’s panicked tone clear as day. He feels bad for worrying Shiro, he shouldn’t deal with this, but he doesn’t really think he can be alone right now.

“I-I don’t want to be alone Shiro. I’m scared” Lance says, now fully balling his eyes out.

Shiro can quite literally hear his heart shatter at how small and scared Lance sounds, it reminds him too much of how empty he felt when he initially got his own diagnosis. He starts running even faster towards the neurology section of the hospital whilst reassuring Lance. “You’re not alone buddy, I’m on my way there right now ok? I’ll be there soon.” Shiro tries to say as reassuringly as he can but honestly? He’s freaking out right now. What could the doctor possibly have said that would freak out Lance this much? Shiro doesn’t think he has ever heard him this frightened.

True to his words in less than a minute he made it to Dr Ryner’s office and is allowed in by the nurses as per her order. As soon as he enters, he sees Lance. He looks horrible, pale and shaking and he can see distinct tear tracks over his cheeks. Shiro doesn’t wait a moment longer before enveloping Lance into a bone-crushing hug and Lance immediately melts into his touch. He’s still crying softly, accompanied by the occasional hiccup and shudder, and Shiro just hugs him even tighter.

After a few moments, Shiro guides Lance onto the two chairs facing the doctor’s desk, but he doesn’t let go of Lance fully, just enough that hey can both be seated. Dr Ryner holds her hand out to him. “Hello there dear, I’m Dr Ryner, but you can just call me Ryner” she smiles softly at him.

Shiro lets go of Lance momentarily and shakes her hand but is immediately back at holding Lance. “I’m Shiro, Lance’s friend. Would you mind … giving me some context here? Wha-What happened?” Shiro asked, clearly concerned. Ryner’s smile turns sympathetic, and she meets Shiro’s eyes with her own more firmly.

“Well, according to his symptoms, I highly suspect he may have a progressive neurodegenerative disease.” She says slowly, almost carefully. Shiro’s eyes widen and he just stares at her in horror, but he doesn’t speak up, so she continues.

“Obviously, we cannot know for sure without proper testing, which I would like to start immediately, but it is most probably ALS. I wanted to start a few tests right now so that we have the results by the afternoon or evening and can give him a more proper diagnosis.”

At the mention of his diagnosis, Lance’s crying is renewed and the soft whimpers and shaking coming from the boy in Shiro’s arms seems to snap him out of his shock. He feels like screaming. Lance doesn’t deserve something like this. He knows how horrible it is to slowly lose control over your body, to see yourself deteriorating and being able to do nothing about it. It’s like living in your own personal hell where you’re slowly but surely being lowered into the flames.

Shiro’s meets Ryner’s eyes again. “Can’t it be something less … serious?” he asked desperately.

Ryner’s face becomes even more sorrowful than before, but she never cut the eye contact. “The possibility is there, but from what I can see the possibility is low. As I said, we still need to run some tests to ensure that it is a neurodegenerative disease and not something else, but the test will be there more to solidify my suspicions rather than rule out possibilities.” After a beat of silence, she looks between the two young adults and opens her mouth again. “I’m extremely sorry. This is horrible for anyone, especially someone so young. But Lance, don’t take this as if your life is over. The sooner we can get the tests and full diagnosis done the sooner we can start to treat it and ensure you live a normal life. But don’t feel rushed, I have no patients till later on in the day, so take all the time you need and whenever you’re ready we can go start the tests.” She finishes off with a smile.

Shiro looks up at her, thankful for how understanding she is being. He is glad that Lance found a doctor that is this sweet, he deserves it. “Thank you but, if you don’t mind me asking, what tests exactly?” Shiro asks her.

“I would like to do two tests for now, a nerve conduction study and an EMG. Both are painless, though they might cause a bit of an odd feeling at first, but I’ll explain everything later.” She gets up and excuses herself, saying she needs to talk to the nurses to set up the tests, and so Lance and Shiro are in the room alone now.

“Hey buddy, you okay?” Shiro asks the teen resting on his chest. Lance finally looks up at Shiro and tries to muster a smile, but he only manages a slight twitch upwards at the corner of his lips.

“Yeah, I’m … okay I guess. Just, this wasn’t what I was expecting at all.” Lance says quietly.

“Yeah, I know bud. I smashed my fist on the doctor’s table when I got my diagnosis, so I’d say you’re handling it a tad better.” Shiro says with a slight chuckle in the hopes of making Lance feel a little better and is delighted to see a slight smile grace the boy’s lips, no matter how small.

“Can’t imagine space dad Shiro punching anything to be honest, you wouldn’t hurt a fly” Lance says, it’s clear that he is still in shock, still beyond upset, but Shiro is beyond glad to see Lance trying to joke and be his old self right now .. no matter how broken he feels. He’ll get through this, Shiro knows he will, no matter how hard, and Shiro will be there to help him every step of the way along with all of their friends. 

A moment of silence falls between the two where they just sit there, with Lance in Shiro’s arms in a comforting embrace. A million and one thoughts are racing through Lance’s head. How would his life change now? Would he still be able to go swimming? Would he still be able to play with his niece and nephew? Would he still be able to hang out with his friends like he used to? How long would it take for him to not be able to do simple things like walking on his own or running up the stairs when he’s late for class? So many more questions are bombarding his head that he can’t focus on any of them.

He buries his face deeper into Shiro’s neck, finding comfort in the older boy. “Hey Shiro, how much has life changed for you?”

Shiro hums in thought, thinking back about this past decade of his life. “Well, many things have changed if I had to be honest. I obviously have frequent check-ups at the hospital that I didn’t have before and have to take medicine and do treatments I didn’t have to do before. I also started appreciating everything I have more, started focusing more on myself and my health. Started going to the gym more because hey if my body wants to literally degrade my muscles at least I’m gonna make sure those muscles are as strong as they can be. I met some amazing friends that support me through everything too. Obviously, it has its hardships, there are days where I’m in a lot of pain or where I randomly stumble over as a reminder that yes, my body is slowly breaking itself down, but I also gained so much from it that I wouldn’t have if I didn’t have this disease. New leas on life you might say.”

Lance is stunned, he always thought that Shiro only looked at his condition with disdain and hate, he doesn’t understand how he can find such positivity in something that is quite literally killing him slowly. I guess he mustn’t have much of a choice, either accept it and try to find the positives or wallow in self-pity. Lance is glad he has Shiro with him here, he would have probably broken down by now. Shiro is holding him together right now, literally and figuratively.

But despite all of Shiro’s encouraging words, Lance couldn’t help but feel hopeless, like his life will start going downhill from now. He wondered how soon it would be before he wouldn’t be able to do the things he loves ... how soon it would be till he died. He didn’t voice these thoughts to Shiro though, he has already passed the man through enough worry by being here. So instead, Lance tries to be the hopeful and brave Lance Shiro wants him to be.

“Thank you Shiro” Lance whispers. “No problem buddy, anytime. Are you ready to go do those tests? Afterwards, we’ll go get a milkshake, my treat, we can even message the rest of the squad if you want.”

“Ye I … I am. And I’ll take you up on that milkshake offer.” The two sit in silence once more, however, the fear and worry is still palpable in the room, suffocating Lance as he tries to not burst into tears again.

It’s only a few moments later that Dr Ryner enters the room again and escorts the two to begin the testing. Lance changes into a hospital gown and gets hooked up with electrodes by the nice nurse named Shay. Ryner was right, the nerve conduction test wasn’t painful, but seeing your arm twitch without your control was definitely weird, and a similar situation occurred with the EMG, only this time with more needles rather than electrodes. After some time passes the tests are done and Shiro and Lance are told to be back in the waiting area within the next 3 hours as Lance’s results will be analysed and a conclusion drawn in a few hours’ time.

After exiting the office, Shiro calls Hunk, Pidge and Allura, who all happen to be free surprisingly, or Shiro suspects they may be saying they are free when they aren’t due to the situation. The five meet at a small café nearby that makes really tasty milkshakes. Lance, with great help from Shiro, tries his best to explain the situation to the rest. But, the waver in his voice keeps getting more and more evident as he goes so Shiro starts filling in to help him.

By the end Lance can’t even look them in the eyes, doesn’t want to see their hurt, their worry, their pain for their friend. Doesn’t want to see Hunk, his best friend since moving to America, crying over the reality of watching his friend slowly die. Doesn’t want to see Pidge, someone he sees and cares for as a younger sister, staring at him with tears in her eyes, trying to hold back her obvious pain and shock. Doesn’t want to see Allura looking at him with pity and sadness as she imagines the rest of her University days without one of her closest friends besides her. Doesn’t want to see Shiro, looking at Lance with sorrowful eyes as he watches his friend relive what he went through.

But eventually, Lance does look up, looks at his friends as they are waiting for him to have his moment of privacy and reflection.

The reactions are various, Hunk traps Lance in a bone-crushing hug whilst crying profusely. Pidge holds his hand tightly with tearful eyes. Allura is quiet and unable to look Lance in the eye. Shiro has a hand on his shoulder giving him an encouraging smile despite the slight shake in his hand.

Eventually, they all go back to talking casually, or well … trying to, but the sombre tone is hanging heavily over all of them. A few hours pass and the five go back to the hospital together, wanting to support Lance as much as they could and to be there with him.

And so, they receive the bad news together, that Ryner’s suspicions were indeed true.

Lance has ALS

Lance has **_ALS_**

Lance didn’t speak much from then onwards, the confirmation of his worst fears coming through. He wanted to go home and cry … to damn this world for everything … to question what he did wrong … so wonder how he was going to tell his mother and father, his siblings, his niece and nephew … to tell them all their family is slowly dying.

The others tried their best to cheer him up, hugging him and ensuring that they will be there with him throughout this entire process. But it was all for nothing. Lance knew this was the beginning of the end.

They all left the hospital and went home, equally heartbroken over the events of the day. As soon as they arrived at their dorm, Lance curled into bed in the clothes he was still wearing, burying himself in his sheets.

***

That night, while Lance slept a restless sleep the others were making plans on how to cheer up their friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think of this chapter? Tell me in the comments! It makes really happy seeing your feedback! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and where this fic is heading! We have a long way to go and lots of angst and fluff to experience, but I hope you will all continue to follow this story with me!


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